Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to deposit funds into the gaming machine and place or make a wager using some or all of those deposited funds to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming machines, the award is provided to the player if the player obtains a winning symbol or winning symbol combination and is based on the amount of the wager (i.e., the higher the wager, the higher the award). Symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur usually provide higher awards. The awards provided to the players for winning symbols or winning symbol combinations are generally part of the paytable or paytables for the gaming machine.
In such known gaming machines, the amount of the wager made on the base game by the player may vary. For instance, the gaming machine may enable the player to wager a minimum number of credits, such as one credit (e.g., one penny, nickel, dime, quarter or dollar) up to a maximum number of credits, such as five credits. This wager may be made by the player a single time or multiple times in a single play of the primary game. For instance, a slot game may have one or more paylines and the slot game enables the player to make a wager on each payline in a single play of the primary game. Slot games with 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, and 25 lines are widely commercially available. Thus, it is known that a gaming machine, such as a slot game, enables players to make wagers of substantially different amounts on each play of the primary or base game ranging, for example, from one credit up to 125 credits (e.g., five credits on each of 25 separate paylines). This is also true for other wagering games, such as video draw poker, where players can wager one or more credits on each hand and where multiple hands can be played simultaneously. It should be appreciated that different players play at substantially different wagering amounts or levels and at substantially different rates of play.
Secondary or bonus games are also known in gaming machines. These secondary or bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. Secondary or bonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player to be activated. Secondary or bonus games are generally activated or triggered upon an occurrence of a designated triggering symbol or triggering symbol combination in the primary or base game of the gaming machine. For instance, a bonus symbol occurring on a payline on the third reel of a three reel slot machine may trigger the secondary bonus game on that gaming device. Part of the enjoyment and excitement of playing certain gaming machines is the occurrence or triggering of the secondary or bonus game (even before the player knows how much the bonus award will be).
To increase player enjoyment and excitement gaming device manufacturers constantly strive to provide players with new types of gaming machines or enhancements to existing gaming machines that attract the player and keep the player entertained.
One proven way manufacturers use to make their gaming machines more popular is to increase the number and variety of winning combinations and provide more opportunities for the player to win. Providing more opportunities to win holds the player's interest for a longer time and also enables the manufacturer to have a larger range of payouts for the winning combinations. The larger range of payouts increases the size of the largest possible payout of the gaming device, and larger payouts tend to attract players.
One avenue that manufacturers have taken to provide more variety, opportunity, enjoyment and excitement has been to increase the number of paylines. Paylines are the lines of symbol positions or paystops that the gaming machine analyzes to determine if the player has won an award. Original gaming machines had only one payline. Modern machines, sometimes called “line” machines, have multiple paylines that form combinations of reel symbols for the gaming device to analyze.
Multiple paylines present multiple opportunities for the player to obtain a winning combination of symbols. Usually, players have to wager more to obtain the benefit of the multiple lines. Many games provide a bonus jackpot for playing the maximum number paylines (“max lines”) and/or the maximum number of credits or coins per payline (“max coins”). Many existing gaming machines that have bonus games also require that the player wager a designate amount of credits to be eligible for or to qualify for the bonus game or a jackpot. Other slot machines require a player to wager a designated amount such as the highest possible number of credits on each of the paylines, or such as at least one coin per payline, before the game enables the player to win a predetermined award from a game of the gaming device.
At least one known slot machine increases the player's odds of winning a jackpot based upon the number of coins or credits played. Another known gaming system has a system separate and apart from the normal operation of the game of the slot machine for adjusting the odds based upon the amount of the player's wager. The system makes a separate evaluation based solely on the number of coins wagered by the player to determine whether the player is eligible to win a jackpot. For example, if the player bets one coin, the system maintains a 1/10,000 chance that the player will be eligible to play for the jackpot, whereby if the player bets forty-five coins, the system maintains a 45/10,000 chance that the player will be eligible for the jackpot.
Several known gaming machines provide players with opportunities to obtain certain game enhancements in exchange for placing additional wagers. One such gaming device is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2005/0215311 to Hornick et al. The Hornick gaming device includes a wagering game having interactive pop-up windows which display sets of available game enhancement parameters, such as additional bonus-triggering outcomes and enhanced awards during the bonus game. The player utilizes the interactive pop-up windows to place side bets or additional wagers. In response to a player input of a side bet, the gaming device provides at least one of the available game enhancements to the player.
As noted above, several known gaming devices employ or carry out a determination based on the amount of the player's wager. However, some players do not wish to wager the required amount to qualify for certain game enhancements or award opportunities, such as a predetermined award, a jackpot award, or the chance to participate in a bonus game.
It would be advantageous to provide gaming systems that enable any player to be eligible for game enhancements or enhanced award opportunities, regardless of the amount wagered.